Google gets jiggy with MySQL

MySQL and Google have quietly tied up a coding deal seen as an integral part of the open source database firm's software roadmap for the next few years.

According to an IDG newswire report, MySQL bods are also working on security improvements for version 7.0 of its software.

Vice president David Axmark, who co-founded MySQL, said during a developer conference in Paris on Tuesday that Google had signed a Contributor License Agreement with the database giant earlier this year.

The motive behind that deal will undoubtedly be to allow MySQL to legally include code from another firm in its database.

Google is among a number of high-profile users of MySQL - Yahoo!, Nokia and YouTube also spring to mind. But the search engine behemoth tends to keep schtum on the back-end software it uses to run the hugely popular website.

IDG reckons Google runs hundreds or even thousands of MySQL databases across the globe, so the code contribution could be a logical next step in securing a watertight relationship between the two firms over coming years.

Axmark also confirmed at the Paris event that Google is working on a customised version of MySQL including database replication and adding monitor tools.

He added that some of those features will be built into future database versions.

The MySQL roadmap stretches all the way to the end of 2009, by which time the firm is expected to have launched version 7.0 of its database.

Meanwhile, version 5.1 should be pumped out by the open source firm in the first quarter of next year. ®